On the Other Side
by bookfanatic74
Summary: Kelsey Gray is sick and tired of running—from her parents, from her friends, from the Republic. She'd spent the first three years after everyone she trusted betrayed her as an outlaw in a Colonies border city, but now that the republic is in better hands, can she return and finally finish what she started?
Kelsey is sick and tired of running- from her parents, from her boyfriend, from the Republic. She'd spent the first three years after everyone she trusted betrayed her as an outlaw in a Colonies border city, but now that the Republic is in better hands, can she return and finish what she started?

Abilene, Texas

Colonies of America

Present

Rush hour was always chaos. People dashing home from work, slamming into everyone else- it was a pickpocket's paradise. I weaved in and out of the crowd, swiping the wallet of anyone stupid enough to leave it out in the open. By the time it the flood of bodies had lessened, I'd scored myself nine. Nine! Maybe things would go my way for once. I ducked into an alleyway to count my earnings- two hundred, two fifty, three hundred- when a rumpled note fell out of one of the wallets. It was on a sheet of blank paper, but in the dimming light I could just barely make out part of the Evergreen Enterprise logo. The rest of the paper was covered in writing so messy it was hard to tell if it was actual words on the page or just scribbles. I shifted from side to side, trying to read it in the dim light from the apartments several stories above.

Headlines:

Republic makes makes peace with most wanted criminal!

Colonies emerge victorious from ten day battle!

Fire in Tribune City kills twenty!

The first headline catches my eye the most- the "most wanted criminal" must be Day! That means… the old Elector died? He was very frail looking when I met him… but still, he would never even try to work with Day. Anden is much more open minded… at least he was three years ago, when he was seventeen. This is stupid, I told myself. You could be totally wrong. The old Elector could have changed and been the one to make peace, and then you'd probably be shot. You're still a traitor, in the Republic's eye at least. I decided to sleep on it and figure out what to do in the morning.

Los Angeles, California

Republic of America

Three years ago

My friends and I laughed as we strutted out of a bar at the edge of Lake sector.

"Oh my god, we're going to be in so much trouble for this," my best friend Emmie gushed, tossing her lustrous gold locks over her shoulder.

"I know, right? We're such rebels!" I replied, daintily sipping my drink.

"There go those poor hobos again, off to the factories," my other friend Gina commented.

Usually I wouldn't have said anything about this, but there was something about this particular crowd of "hobos" that made me speak up. "I don't think we should make fun of them. They didn't get the training and education we got," I countered.

"God, Kels, you're, like, so overly empathetic. I mean, isn't it their faults they didn't do well on the trial? Plus, how can you feel sorry for people who wear such ugly outfits?" Emmie giggled. Gina and I joined in, but my laugh was uncomfortable and halfhearted. There was one boy in particular- a boy maybe twelve years old, with tangled white blond hair peeking out under a battered cap, and a knee wrapped in a sort of cast- that I couldn't get out of my head. It was his eyes that got to me though- impossibly blue, and brimming with sadness. No matter how hard I tried to forget him, the boy with the blue eyes followed me like a shadow everywhere I went.

 **Hi Guys!**

 **So this is my first fanfic about a thief in the Colonies who has a long history with the Republic. It's set at the right at the end of Prodigy and alternates from the thief's point of view in the present and her point of view three years ago, when all the Republic drama happens. I can't say much more without spoiling the entire story, but stay in tuned for an update soon! Thoughts, feedback, and reviews are always welcome, so please tell me what you think of my story. Until next time!**


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